constable



G. S CONSTABLE.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLlCATlUN FILED NOV. 1. X916 1 ,246,550. Patented Nov. 13, 1917.

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G. S. CONSTABLE.

INTERNAL cumausnow ENGINE.

AFPLIEIATION FILED NOV. 7. IQIE Patented Nov. 13, 1917,

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Patented Nov. 13, 1917.

G. S. CONSTABLE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGfNE.

APPLICATHJN man NOV. 1 IEH6 .GEOBGE S. CONSTABLE, .OF Pl-HLJJrELPHIA, IENNSYLVANIA.

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE Application filed November 7, 1916.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnonon S. CONSTABLE, a citizen of the United States, residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented Internal-Combustion Engines, of which the following is a specification.

one object of my invention is to so construct an internal combustion engine in which there are several cylinders, as to reduce the number of parts and make the engine more compact than heretofore; a further object is to mount the cylinders in tandem so as to provide each pair of cylinders with but a single connecting rod and a single crank on the crank shaft; anda still fiirther object is to so construct a single rotating valve, common to all the cylinders, that as the valve rotates, the several ports will register with the passages leading to the cylinder.

The engine comprises a set of cylinders and pistons of tandem construction, each cylinder structure having a plurality of chambers of difi'erent diameters with the piston constructed to fit and adapted to reciprocate therein. Each chamber forms an independent cylinder into which an explosive mixture is introduced and exploded at the proper intervals, the proportions of the cylinders being such that the pressure faces of the istons are of the same area in all the cyllnder chambers. Thus, no matter in which chamber the explosion occurs, the force applied to the piston will be the same. For each tandem unit but one connecting rod is necessary. A single valve member of the rotary type is employed for all the cylinders, said member extending along the length of the engine and having the necessary ports fol admitting and exhausting the gases to and from the various chambers.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a longitunal sectional view of an engine embodyin the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation on the line 2-2, Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the engine;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the valve casing, showing the valve there in; and

Figs. 5 and 6 are sectional views of the valve member and its casing, showing the valve in diflerent positions.

In Fig. 1, 1 and 2 are castings, each com prising two cylinder units. The cylinders 33 and 4141 are formed in the casting Specification ofLetters Patent.

Patented Nov. 13, 1917.

Serial No. 130,055.

1 and .the cylinders 5-5 and 66' are formed in the casting 2. \Vater jackets 7 and 8 surround the several cylinders as clearly shown. The cvlinder units are similar, and for the sake of brevity I shall confine myself to a description of one only, the

description applying equally to the others. The cylinder units are made with two chambers, 3 and 3, of dilferent diameters, the smaller being at the top. Adapted to reciprocate in the chambers is the piston 9-9. the proportions of the chambers being such that the pressure faces, or the surfaces upon which the force of the explosion of the gases is exerted in driving the piston, are the same in area in the two chambers. Attached to the piston is a connecting rod 13 which is coupled to the crank 17 of the crank shaft 21, said shaft being held in bearings 22, 23 and 24 in the crank casing 25. The pistons 1010, 1111 and 12-42 are con nected respectively to the cranks 18, 19 and 20, by rods 14, 15 and 16, as clearly shown in Fig. 1,.

In Fig. 2 one of the cylinder units and the valve are shown in section. The valve casing 26 is cast in one piece, as shown in Fig. 3, and the cylindrical valve member 27 revolves therein, receiving its motion from the shaft 21 through the gears 50 and 51. The valve casing includes the passages 28 and 29 which lead to the upper and lower sections of the cylinder unit respectively. The valve casing is bolted to the cylinder castings as clearly shown in Fig. 3,

The construction of the valve is shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6. The valve member 27 contains two distinct chambers, an inner chamber 30 and an outer chamber 31, which may he called respectively the exhaust and admission chambers. From these chambers passages or ports lead to the surface of the cylinder. The chamber 31 is contained between, the ends of the cylinder, while the chamber 30 extends through the stem 32 and connects with the exhaust pipe 33. The stem 32 carries a collar 34 which fits in a groove between the flanges 35 and 36 on the valve casing and the exhaust pipe respectively. This collar together with the collar 37 at the opposite end of the valve hold the same in position in the casing. The explosive mixture is led to the valve through the pipes 38 and 39 and is received into the admission chamber 31 through the openings 40-40.

The exhaust ports 41 and the admission ports 42 are triangular in shape as are also the ports 43 and 44 in the casing. The arrangement of the ports is shown in Fig. 4 wherein the broken lines represent the ports 43 in the casing, which open into the passage 28 leading to the upper chamber of cylinder units. The admission ports 42 closely follow the exhaust ports on the valve. T he exhaust port 41. shown on the extreme right of Fig. 4, is about to open or pass under the port 43 in the valve casing. It is apparent that the opening will begin on the long side of the triangle and that when the valve has turned sufliciently to carry the port 41 from under the opening 43, the closure will be along one of the short sides of the triangle. This has the effect of cansing comparatively rapid opening and closing of the ports. The admission port 42 will open as soon as the exhaust closes as shown at the extreme left of Fig. 4 where the port 42 is about to open.

The operation of the engine will be apparent to one skilled in the art. The different chambers of each unit operate as independent cylinders. each having its own spark plug, 44 and 45, and each having an explosive mixture introduced and exhausted after explosion by means of the same revolving valve member. The cranks are set, in the present case, at angles of 90 from one another, as shown in Fig. 2. The same force being exerted on the piston in the different chambers of the cylinder units, the action is the same as though eight simple cylinders were used instead of the four tandem cylinders described.

It will be understood that though I have described an engine containing four cylinder units, I do not wish to limit myself to any set number, nor to the exact construction here shown, since there may be considerable change in detail without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

In an internal combustion engine of the tandem type, having cylinders comprising upper and lower combustion chambers of different diameters, a valve casing comprising a cylindrical chamber having ports therein, passages leading from said ports to the upper and lower combustion chambers of the various cylinders, and a single cylindrical valve member adapted to rotate in said cylindrical chamber, said valve member comprising an admission and an exhaust chamber which alternately connect with the passages leading to the cylinder chambers, to admit an explosive mixture thereto and exhaust the combustion products therefrom.

GEORGE S. CONSTABLE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

